Google Reviews

Overview

The DOLU.ai Google Reviews module lets you monitor, manage, and respond to your Google Business Profile reviews directly from within the platform. Online reviews are one of the most powerful factors influencing customer decisions — a single unanswered negative review can drive potential customers away, while a prompt, thoughtful response can turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal advocate.

This module pulls in all your Google reviews in real time, notifies your team when new reviews arrive, provides AI-assisted response drafts, and tracks your overall rating trends over time. Combined with DOLU.ai's CRM, you can link reviews to existing contacts, identify patterns in customer feedback, and trigger follow-up workflows automatically. For businesses that depend on local search visibility (restaurants, clinics, salons, real estate agencies), this module is essential.

How to Access

Dashboard → Left Menu → Integrations → Google Reviews

Reviews also appear as notifications in:

• The Notifications bell icon (top-right of the dashboard)
• Email alerts (if configured in Settings → Notifications)
• The linked contact's activity timeline in the CRM

Key Features

Review Dashboard

• All reviews in one place: See every Google review with star rating, reviewer name, review text, and date
• Rating summary: Average rating, total review count, and rating distribution (5-star, 4-star, etc.) at a glance
• Trend chart: Track your average rating over time (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
• Filter and search: Filter reviews by star rating, date range, response status (replied/unreplied), or keyword

Review Notifications

• Real-time alerts: Get notified immediately when a new review is posted
• Priority alerts: Negative reviews (1-2 stars) trigger urgent notifications to the team
• Multi-channel notification: Receive review alerts via in-app notification, email, or WhatsApp
• Assignment: Route review notifications to specific team members (e.g., the location manager)

AI-Powered Responses

• Auto-draft replies: The AI Copilot analyzes the review sentiment and content, then generates a contextually appropriate response
• Tone matching: Positive reviews get enthusiastic, grateful replies; negative reviews get empathetic, solution-oriented replies
• Personalization: The AI uses the reviewer's name and references specific points from their review
• Multi-language: Generate responses in the reviewer's language automatically
• One-click publish: Review the AI draft, edit if needed, and publish the response directly to Google

CRM Integration

• Contact matching: When a reviewer matches an existing CRM contact (by name or linked Google account), the review is linked to their contact record
• Sentiment tracking: Review sentiment (positive, neutral, negative) is recorded on the contact timeline
• Follow-up workflows: Negative reviews can trigger Salesbot workflows — e.g., send an internal alert, create a support ticket, or schedule a follow-up call

Step-by-Step Usage

Connecting Your Google Business Profile

1. Go to Dashboard → Left Menu → Integrations → Google Reviews.
2. Click "Connect Google Business Profile".
3. Sign in with the Google account that owns or manages your Google Business Profile.
4. Select the Business Location to connect (if you have multiple locations).
5. Grant DOLU.ai read and reply permissions.
6. Click "Complete Setup". Existing reviews begin importing within a few minutes, and new reviews will sync in real time going forward.

Responding to a Review

1. From the Review Dashboard, click on any review to open the detail view.
2. Read the full review and see the reviewer's information.
3. Choose how to respond:
   • Manual response: Type your response in the reply box and click Send.
   • AI-assisted response: Click "Generate AI Reply". The Copilot drafts a response based on the review content and sentiment. Edit if desired, then click Send.
4. The response is published directly to your Google Business Profile.
5. The review status changes to "Replied" in your dashboard.

Setting Up Negative Review Alerts

1. Go to Settings → Notifications → Review Alerts.
2. Enable "Negative Review Alert" and set the threshold (e.g., reviews with 1-2 stars).
3. Choose the notification channels: in-app, email, WhatsApp, or all three.
4. Assign the alert to specific team members or roles (e.g., "Customer Service Manager").
5. Optionally enable "Auto-Create Support Ticket" — this creates a ticket in the Support Center module for every negative review, ensuring follow-up.
6. Click Save.

Automating Review Follow-Up with Salesbot

1. Go to Dashboard → Left Menu → Salesbot.
2. Create a new workflow with the trigger: "New Google Review" with the condition "Star Rating <= 2".
3. Add actions:
   • Send Internal Notification: Alert the team in Team Chat
   • Create Support Ticket: File a ticket with the review details
   • Wait 1 Hour: Allow time for the team to review
   • Check If Replied: Branch based on whether the review has been responded to
   • Send Reminder: If unreplied after 1 hour, send an escalation alert
4. Activate the workflow.

Use Cases

Restaurants

A restaurant chain monitors reviews across 10 locations. Each location manager receives alerts for their specific location. The AI drafts personalized responses referencing the dishes mentioned in the review. Negative reviews about service trigger a support ticket for the operations team to investigate.

Healthcare Clinics

A dental clinic uses review management to maintain its 4.8-star rating. The AI responds to positive reviews with personalized thank-you messages. Negative reviews about wait times trigger an internal process improvement workflow. Monthly review trend reports are sent to clinic management.

Hotels and Hospitality

A boutique hotel responds to every review within 2 hours using AI-drafted responses. Positive reviews are shared on social media. Negative reviews trigger immediate escalation to the duty manager. The hotel tracks its rating trend weekly and correlates it with occupancy rates.

Automotive Services

An auto repair shop asks satisfied customers to leave reviews (via a post-service WhatsApp message from the Salesbot). New reviews are monitored, and the shop owner responds personally to every one. The AI helps draft professional responses for technical complaints.

Tips & Best Practices

Respond to Every Review

Studies show that businesses that respond to all reviews — positive and negative — are perceived as more trustworthy. Aim to respond within 24 hours. Use the AI drafting feature to make this manageable even with high review volumes.

Do Not Argue in Responses

For negative reviews, acknowledge the customer's experience, apologize, and offer to resolve the issue offline. Never argue or blame the customer publicly. Use the Copilot to draft empathetic responses and always review before publishing.

Request Reviews at the Right Moment

Use the Salesbot to automatically send a review request via WhatsApp or email after a successful service completion. Time it for 1-2 hours after the interaction when satisfaction is highest.

Track Rating Trends, Not Just Individual Reviews

Use the trend chart to monitor your average rating over time. A gradual decline may indicate a systemic issue that individual review responses alone cannot fix. Investigate root causes using the Reports module.

Troubleshooting

Reviews not syncing from Google

• Verify that the Google Business Profile connection is active in Settings → Integrations → Google Reviews.
• Re-authorize the connection if your Google account password changed or permissions were revoked.
• Google may delay review publication by several hours — wait and check again.
• Ensure the correct business location is selected if you have multiple locations.

AI-generated response is inappropriate or off-topic

• The AI drafts are suggestions, not final responses. Always review before publishing.
• If the AI misunderstands the review context, try regenerating with a specific instruction like "Focus on the wait time complaint" or "Keep it brief."
• Ensure your knowledge base includes relevant business information that helps the AI craft accurate responses.

Response not appearing on Google

• After clicking Send, it may take a few minutes for the response to appear on Google.
• Check that DOLU.ai has reply permissions for your Google Business Profile (not just read access).
• If the review was removed by Google (spam or policy violation), your response will also disappear.

Notifications not arriving for new reviews

• Check your notification settings in Settings → Notifications → Review Alerts.
• Verify that the correct team members are assigned to receive review alerts.
• Check email spam folders if using email notifications.
• Ensure WhatsApp channel is connected if using WhatsApp notifications.

FAQ

Q: Can I manage reviews for multiple business locations? A: Yes. Connect each Google Business Profile location separately. Reviews are organized by location, and you can assign different team members to each location.

Q: Does DOLU.ai post responses automatically without my approval? A: No. AI-generated responses are always presented as drafts for your review. You must click Send to publish. There is no fully automatic response posting to prevent inappropriate responses.

Q: Can I link a Google reviewer to an existing CRM contact? A: If the reviewer's name matches a contact in your CRM, DOLU.ai will suggest the match. You can confirm the link, and the review will appear on that contact's timeline.

Q: How far back does the review import go? A: On initial connection, DOLU.ai imports all available reviews from your Google Business Profile (typically all reviews ever posted). New reviews sync in real time after that.

Q: Can I request reviews through DOLU.ai? A: Yes. Use the Salesbot module to create a workflow that sends a review request (with your Google review link) via WhatsApp, SMS, or email after a service is completed.

Q: Does managing reviews through DOLU.ai affect my Google ranking? A: Responding to reviews promptly and consistently is known to positively influence local search rankings. DOLU.ai helps you maintain that consistency by streamlining the response process.